pardon my french but SHIT, guys, do you know how many reviews i received for the last chapter? 31. 31 reviews! for a single chapter! anyway, we reached 80 in one night (ahh!) so i tried to write this as quickly as possible, as usual, enjoy (30 reviews! thank you! :D)

to anonymous - thanks for your thoughts :) well, i thought the guy was pretty hot (he's a male model! no?) plus i always considered zach to be fifty percent looks and fifty percent charisma, so maybe my standards for his looks are lower, haha. also, this isn't for the actual books, but my story (so cammie's a bit prettier and macey's a bit tougher).

[ - macey & cammie's dorm; town day - ]

The next few weeks flew by in a meshed blur with very little conversation with Zach and very high amounts of homework, and before Cammie knew it, it was the end of September and the first Town Day at Gallagher Academy. Of course, Roseville, Virginia wasn't that great of a town - it was very cookie cutter, with very little to do, not to mention everybody stared at the freed Gallagher students like they all had four heads - but when one is confined to the most secure mansion in the northern hemisphere for the better part of the month, one learns to appreciate the little things.

"Okay, so I checked and rechecked and rechecked again - so take note, Cam, I've checked three times - and I've concluded that there's nothing decent to watch at the movie theater," Preston announced, his eyes glued to a small slip of paper in front of him as he barged into Cammie's dorm. "Unless you count Superman as a movie—which of course, I don't, those things are always an abomination to—AHHHHH!"

"Is he alright?" Macey, who had been pulling on a shirt asked, looking between Cammie and Preston, who was now cowering and covering his eyes.

Cammie snorted. "Yeah, he's just not used to seeing bras outside of his mom's closet," Cammie said, smirking. "Preston, you can look, you melodramatic little speck."

Preston slowly uncovered his eyes. "Er, hey, Macey," he greeted, his voice ten times higher than usual.

Macey made a skeptical face. "Is my body really that scary, Preston?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I never said it was scary," Preston squeaked, as Cammie fought to keep in her laughter. She had to be supportive for her best friend. "Scary is definitely not the word I was looking for. So. Not. Scary."

"Okay, then what's the difference between a bra and the bathing suit you see me wear every summer?" Macey questioned, her voice dangerously calm. Preston mumbled something about lace and ribbons and Macey rolled her cerulean eyes. "Preston, you're seventeen, you should be over this type of shit."

Cammie couldn't hold in her giggles any longer and burst into laughter as Preston blanched.

"Come on, Pres, let's go watch Superman," Cammie snickered, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the dormitory. Once out of earshot, Cammie turned towards her friend. "On the bright side, I'd say you're making progress."

"Really?" Preston asked eagerly.

Cammie decided it was best not to answer as they walked downstairs towards the foyer of the mansion, ready to be checked off by the guard whose name nobody knew - they simply referred to him as the Bubblegum guard. There were rumors that he was under witness protection, but nobody had confirmed it so.

"Morgan, Winters," Bubblegum guard said, snapping his gum loudly and looking down at his clipboard. "You're good to go. Have fun."

"He scares me," Preston muttered as soon as they had left the stone walls of the academy.

"Everything scares you," Cammie replied. They walked a few more feet, until they heard another pair of footsteps. It turned out to be Zach, wearing a navy blue sweatshirt, striding back towards the mansion. He noticeably slowed when he looked up and saw Cammie. "Um, town's the other way," Cammie stated.

"Yeah," Zach said. "Not going to town."

"Where are you going, then?" Cammie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"To study," Zach lied, not covering it up very well. He wasn't making eye contact, he kept running his hand through his hair, and his voice made it very clear that he didn't want to stay for very long.

Confused, Cammie stepped towards the side to let him pass through. "Have fun studying, then," she said, her eyebrows knitting together.

"Have fun in town," Zach replied, before speedwalking away.

Cammie looked at Preston. "What d'you think's wrong with him?" She asked, looking between Zach's retreating figure and her skinny best friend. Preston shrugged. "He looked tense."

"He's not my boyfriend," Preston said. "Anyway, isn't he like, whatever, James Dean? Everything's supposed to be wrong with him. Now do we really have to see Superman? I was thinking we could at least try and watch that new Matt Damon movie. Matt Damon is cool."

"Of course we're watching Superman," Cammie said. "He's super." Preston's face was unimpressive. "I'll buy you popcorn." Preston's face didn't change. "I'll buy you your ticket."

"I'll consider it," Preston grunted.

[ - abrams & abrams pharmacy; 2:30PM - ]

"I can't believe it was sold out," Preston repeated. "Is today's population so thick they actually pay to see things like Hollywood interpretations of classic literature?"

"You think comic books are classic literature?" Cammie asked skeptically. "Anyway, it's not sold out, we still have the showing at three."

""That's in thirty minutes, and I'm bored," Preston groaned. "What else is there to do? Why are we at a pharmacy, anyway? Is this some new addition to the How to Be Cool Handbook? Because I don't feel cool."

"That's because you're not," Cammie said. "Anyway, this place has the best ice cream in town."

"They only carry one flavor."

"But it's the best," Cammie pointed out, putting a hand on her hip. "So are you really going to dispute it? Two, please," she said to the guy at the counter. He handed her two gigantic cones dripping with vanilla ice cream.

"Anything else?" He asked.

"Actually, can his have rainbow sprinkles?" Cammie asked, gesturing towards Preston.

The cashier complied and Cammie handed the sprinkled ice cream to Preston. "That'll be four dollars even," the cashier said. Then, with a confident grin, he added, "I'm Keith, by the way."

Preston could be heard letting out a huge sigh.

"That's great, Keith," Cammie said, handing him a five dollar bill. "Keep the change."

"Can I go anywhere with you without having to wait while somebody tries to hit on you?" Preston grumbled, as Cammie took his sprinkled ice cream out of his hands and switched it for the plain one. "Also, why couldn't you ask for sprinkles yourself?"

"Because it wouldn't have annoyed you nearly as much," Cammie answered as they walked out of the pharmacy to the street corner. The stoplight flicked to WALK, and the friends set off across the street.

A car with tinted windows came careening down the street and nearly ran them over, but Preston, who had been looking both ways while crossing the street and not admiringly at his ice cream like Cammie had been pulled her out of the way onto the curb. It would've been alright, had Cammie not let of her ice cream.

"Fuck you, asshole!" She shouted after the black sports car. "And your stupid self-indulgent car!"

"The movie is in twenty minutes," Preston announced, because he had witnessed what had happened to people who made Cammie lose her ice cream before, and it was best to quit while she was still only verbally abusive.

Roseville was also a ridiculously small town, so the walk to the movies took about five uneventful minutes. Cammie held up her end of the promise and bought Preston's tickets and popcorn. As expected, Preston wouldn't shut up about what an abomination this movie was to the entire franchise and how it should be considered a separate entity altogether, so by the climax of the movie, Cammie had excused herself for a smoke, well away from Preston's indignant protests.

And that's when it happened.

Cammie had exited the theater and was surprised to see the sun was already setting, the sky turning violet at the horizon as the temperature grew cooler. A few people milled about, but she didn't really mind as she leaned against the rough wall of the cinema, lazily inhaling and exhaling clouds of smoke. When her cigarette shrunk to a stub, she heard footsteps around the corner.

Very familiar footsteps.

And then they were joined by a second set of rather unfamiliar footsteps, low greetings being exchanged. Cammie pressed her lips together and retracted her body slowly from the corner of the building, just in case Zach and whoever he was with could see her, and then focused her gaze on the bank next door to the cinema. The bank's mirrors were tinted and reflective, so she could see everything that was happening, but remained out of sight.

"Hey, Goode," a voice said, and Cammie instantly recognized it as Keith the Counter Guy's voice.

"Keith, how are you?" Zach's voice greeted, except it barely sounded like Zach's voice. It was quieter, but more coarse, and every syllable dripped with cold, superior arrogance; nothing she'd ever heard before.

"Not bad, still getting flak about you leaving," Keith answered. "Who would've guessed the little fish would make such a big impact on Blackthorne's entire system?" His intonation was neutral, but there were hints of condescension and perhaps a little hurt in his words.

"Can't be that bad," Zach said. There was the sound of a lighter being flicked on, and the air filled with the familiar smell of cigarette smoke.

"How would you know?" Keith questioned, almost angrily. "It's not like you've kept contact with anyone."

"And what's your basis for that accusation?" Zach asked calmly.

Keith laughed. "Well, last week, your dad decided to drop by and ask if I'd heard from you lately," he replied. "Apparently, he hadn't heard from his youngest son for a while. Three and a half years, a while. Kind of ironic, considering that was when you dropped out."

"I didn't drop out," Zach stated.

"Right, sorry, you switched to your fancy CIA academy, I forgot," Keith deadpanned. "The point is? You're acting like you want to be completely alienated from our side. And that's making everybody a bit nervous."

"Why?"

"Because your dad is kind of fucking scary and he's getting kind of fucking angry," Keith said.

"He should know better than anyone that I left for a reason. I'll come back when I come back," Zach objected. "Anyway, doesn't he have other things to worry about? He never seemed to have the time for me when I was around."

At this point, Cammie realized something. Apart from the different voice, Zach had been wearing a navy blue sweatshirt earlier, but now it had changed into a worn leather jacket. This sudden revelation made Cammie suddenly feel tense as she reviewed what Zach and his friend had been talking about. Completely alienated from our side. Zach was obviously someone, but Cammie wasn't sure she wanted to know who.

"Times have changed, little fish," Keith explained.

"Don't call me that," Zach snapped.

"I'm your best friend," Keith pointed out. "Or have you found a replacement for me, too? Trying to recreate your twisted idea of a perfect life? Is Solomon the father you wish you had? Is Gallagher the education you always wanted? Is the CIA who you work for, now?"

"I don't work for anybody," Zach responded.

"Or will work for, whatever," Keith sighed, exasperated. "You say you're over there for a reason, and it better be a fucking good one, otherwise you are fucking selfish. Nobody wants to live the type of life we do, Zach, so that's why we do it. There's no point in trying to pretend you weren't meant for it, because you were."

"That's not what I'm trying to do," Zach assured him.

"Great," Keith said, his voice changing back into the light-hearted tone. "It was good seeing you, man."

"Yeah," Zach muttered.

The feeling of uneasiness grew as Cammie watched Keith turn and traipsed in the opposite direction, as Zach stood there silently, his cigarette slowly burning down to an ashy nub. What had she just heard?

But before she could contemplate anything, she heard Zach's footsteps start up again, and when she took a glance at the bank window again, he was turning around the corner. Frantically, she tried to find somewhere to hide, but the entire area was basically flat. So instead, she rushed towards the door and opened it, then turned around so it would seem as if she had been exiting the theater, not trying to hide in it.

"Cameron?" Zach's voice asked, sounding surprised.

She managed a weak smile as she greeted him. "What did I tell you about calling me Cameron?" She said, her heart pounding. He didn't smile, but he did look amused. Her grin became more forced. "Nice jacket. Really selling the bad boy image now, aren't we?"

"What can I say, you inspired me," Zach replied easily. Cammie chuckled and looked down at the ground. The sun had completely set now; street lamps illuminated the plaza. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I was watching a movie, except Preston wouldn't shut up about it, so I came outside," Cammie answered. That was pretty much true. She looked at her watch. "The movie's probably over."

"Were you planning on doing anything afterwards?" Zach asked.

Cammie was in such a state of shock it took her a few seconds to form a reply. Could it be possible that Zach was asking her on a date, or was he simply curious? "Er, no, not really," Cammie replied. "Why?"

Zach shrugged. "I was wondering how you were going to get back to the mansion," he stated.

"Probably the same way I came from the mansion," Cammie said. Zach raised his eyebrows, as if to ask, 'How?'. "By walking."

Zach nodded slowly. "I could drive you," he suggested.

"Could you?" Cammie asked.

"Well, I have a license, like a lot of people over the age of sixteen do," Zach informed her patiently.

"No, I meant, um," Cammie stammered. "I'm not really sure what I meant. But, I'm here with Preston, you know, and I don't know if he can walk back without having an anxiety attack—"

"Is he prone to those?" Zach asked.

"I was actually joking, but that's very thoughtful of you to ask," Cammie admitted. "But, thank you very much for your offer." She smiled, and then her phone vibrated in her back pocket. She pulled it out, and the screen lit up with a text message from Preston: go w/o me, i'm arguing w/ movie manager about how theyre allowed to show such crappy films.

"That's convenient," Cammie murmured to herself. She looked up at Zach. "So, where's your car parked?"

"In the parking lot," Zach answered.

"Who would've guessed."

"And I'm sorry about earlier," Zach said.

"More apologizing?" Cammie asked.

"I almost ran you over."

There was a pause. "That was you?" Cammie exclaimed. "You made me drop my ice cream! That ice cream was two dollars!" The pair came to a stop in front of the same black sports car with tinted windows. "But this is like, a really nice car."

"Yeah," Zach said.

"Who are you?" Cammie blurted out. Zach raised his eyebrows. Cammie coughed. "Er, I mean, like, you're a seventeen year-old driving a world-class vehicle. You're not in the mafia, are you?" She asked in a joking manner, even though she did, somewhere deep down, think something along those lines.

"Not the mafia," Zach stated, in a tone which didn't help at all.

"Or any other kind of criminal syndicate?" Cammie pressed, still using her joking tone.

Zach actually laughed, a very small chuckle. "Not that I'm aware of," he replied. He nodded towards the car. "Get in."

not the best place to stop, but this chapter is nearly 3,000 words, so it did the job. for the next chapter, would you like to hear about their car ride home or go on to the next day/time period? also, the plot is starting to pick up - there's going to be lots of zach/cam action now (as well as sore preston attempts).

that awkward moment when you post your new chapter late and nobody sees it. oh well!